My fiance and I are looking forward to a 12 day honeymoon and are excited to be heading to Prague next year (first week of April of 2009) for 6 days. We also figured that we would venture to Greece (Athens and Santorini) since we were just 2 1/2 hours away. I have a few questions and would appreciate some guidance:
1.) We reside in Atlanta, GA. Delta offers non-stop flights to Prague (during certain months) but we are not looking to do a round trip flight considering we will be heading to Greece after Prague. Where can I find great one way airfare to Prague?
2.) Can we fly straight to Santorini from Prague or do we have to go to Athens from Prague? I hear Athens really only needs 1 day to say, "been there, seen that". Should it be avoided or is it worth the extra cost of another flight?
3.) I've traveled to Europe a few times and Prague hotels are so expensive compared to other places I've been - you don't seem to get much for your money...and it doesn't help that the US dollar is so weak right now. Any recommendations for a really beautiful hotel to stay in that is centrally located and reasonably priced (not to exceed $175 USD per night). I've done endless research and am not staisfied with any of my findings. Perhaps there is a travel agency in Prague that I should work with?
Congratulations on your upcoming nuptial! I'm not much of a Greece or Prague expert but airfare is my thing so I think I can offer some advice on question #1.
I haven't seen or heard of reasonable transoceanic one-way fares in years; normally, it's much cheaper to use the first leg of a return ticket than to purchase a one-way ticket. If you want to stick to direct flight from Atlanta, you might want to consider buying an open-jaw ticket(ATL-PRG + ATH-ATL). Or, you could fly to London Gatwick and then use a discount airliner like Easyjet. Problem there is that flights might not connect well and you'd have to transfer luggage yourself. You are also on your own if you miss the connection, etc.
As for hotels in Prague, I was there years ago and rented a decent apartment for not much more than $40 a night in the middle of summer so if you are willing to spend $175 a night, I'm sure you will find a pretty luxurious apartment if you are open to staying at an apartment as opposed to a hotel.
Have you tried Arcadia Residence for Prague? It has been recommended on this forum several times. (Try a search under "Find.") It has apartments, but with "hotel services," and it is ranked as the #2 hotel in Prague (of several hundred) on TripAdvisor. For shoulder season (which you'd be in), the listed rates (80-100 €) appear to be within your desired range, unless, of course, the dollar continues to fall.
It is just down river from New Town (Nové Mesto), but that's not a problem at all. It's very easy to get around (most*) of Prague. We've been there three times. I haven't stayed at the Arcadia myself, but I definitely think it's worth investigating, though you have to book well in advance to find vacancies. You might get better rates at a discount site, but they apparently run specials regularly.
Last year about this time, we stayed at the Hotel Tyl, which is just outside of Nové Mesto. It was fine for us and my brother's family, but I don't know that I'd recommend it for a honeymoon hotel.
Ann
*P.S. That's part of another story which I'll get around to telling one of these days - our search for an auditorium in a residential area of the city.
According to the official Prague airport site, there in no scheduled direct flight between Prague and Santorini but you should be able to connect easily in Athens.
I stayed at Hotel Pav earlier this month and can recommend it. It's central to everything (few minutes walk to Old town square), clean, friendly staff.
Posts: 124 | Location: Irvine, CA | Registered: 13 February 2008
We stayed at the K+K Hotel Central in Prague in June 2006 and liked it a lot. One of our best meals in Prague was at a Mexican restaurant called Cantina in the Mala Strana.
I've also been to Athens and Santorini on a separate trip. I really enjoyed touring the Parthenon and other ruins on the Acropolis as well as the Ancient Agora and Roman Agora in Athens. We took day trips to the Peloponnese and Delphi and would highly recommend each of those, but overall, in my opinion, Athens itself lacks the charm and beauty of Prague (and doesn't begin to compare to cities like Paris, Rome or Vienna).
We spent just a day in Santorini, but it is beautiful and would be a nice contrast to Prague, I think.
Enjoy your trip planning, but most of all I hope you have a wonderful honeymoon and a long and happy marriage.
